Six Children With Lice, Open Sores Found Wandering Neighborhood; Mother Arrested

A mother of six has been arrested after her children, who all had lice and open sores, were found wandering in a Florida neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.

Sara Nicole Resko, 30, was arrested and charged with six counts of child neglect.

Authorities said they began investigating after finding a 2-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy wandering on a road. The girl was not clothed from the waist down and a witness provided a towel to the child so she could cover up, according to police.

The girl had multiple open sores on her arms, legs, chest, back, feet and face, said deputies.

While authorities were trying to establish where the children came from, they saw more children riding bicycles down the roadway. Those children were later identified as the siblings of the two and four-year old, officials said.

The older children, ages 6, 8, 9, and 13, told deputies that Resko had left them alone at the home while she was at work. All of the children were infested with lice and covered in open sores, officers said.

Deputies said they entered the home and found that there was no running water, no food and no electricity in the house. Deputies said the childrens’ living conditions were some of the worst they had ever seen.

The floor was covered in dog feces and the home was infested with flies, authorities said. The home was in complete disarray and the children were only given mattresses on the floor with no linens to sleep on, according to officers.

After deputies said they were at the home for 90 minutes when Resko arrived. She told deputies that she had just been gone for a few minutes, but quickly began changing her story once deputies told her how long they had been there investigating.

Upon further review of Resko’s history, deputies found two previously reported incidents where the children had been left unsupervised. The Department of Children and Families responded to an incident on February 2nd, and implemented a supervision plan with Resko, who was instructed to not allow the 13-year old to babysit the other children anymore, authorities said.

Deputies ultimately determined that Resko failed on multiple occasions to provide care and supervision for the children. DCF responded and took custody of the six children.